What to Expect From FedEx Earnings

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) is scheduled to report its fiscal first-quarter financial results after the markets close on Tuesday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters are $2.81 in earnings per share (EPS) on $14.61 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $2.42 in EPS on revenue of $12.28 billion.

Amazon was supposed to steal some of FedEx’s business by launching a fleet of its own planes. Drones will replace FedEx trucks, but in the air, not on the streets. Emissions limitations also will make the delivery company cut down its truck fleets. It is only a matter of time. However, the market has not bought any of the speculation about FedEx’s future and its shares are actually up on the year.

FedEx already has its share of competition, and still, the market likes it. The U.S. Postal System continues to fight for its life, at least as it is now, and it has armies of trucks and tens of thousands of offices. Post offices in many other countries have the same problem, and the same aggression as they fight back.

The company still holds a number of advantages over almost any other means of distribution. For the most part, it is the least expensive alternative. It has the huge moat of the cost to create its infrastructure and logistics. Amazon’s chess move represents little more than a dream.

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A few analysts weighed in on FedEx ahead of the earnings report:

• Barclays reiterated a Buy rating with a $205 price target.
• Cowen reiterated a Market Perform rating with a $110 price target.
• Wolfe Research has an Outperform rating.
• Credit Suisse reiterated a Buy rating.
• Oppenheimer reiterated a Buy rating.
• Robert Baird reiterated a Buy rating with a $176 price target.
• Deutsche Bank has a Buy rating with a $198 price target.
• Sanford Bernstein reiterated a Market Perform rating with a $154 price target.
• Citigroup reiterated a Buy rating with a $200 price target.
• Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $179 price target.
• Merrill Lynch has a Buy rating.

So far in 2016, FedEx has outperformed the broad markets, with the stock up 9%. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is up about 12%.

Shares of FedEx were last seen up 1.7% at $163.95, with a consensus analyst price target of $181.78 and a 52-week trading range of $119.71 to $169.57.

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